Love and War
by Feu Silverweb
Summary: When he was 15 Zieg left the Silverweb palace. Now 3 years later he is found by his only friend. Many things are going to happen along this road. Niether of them are certain what, but they are certain of one thing and that's their feelings for each other.
1. Prologue

**Love & War**

_Prologue_

Smoke rose from the battlefield. The smell of blood and charred flesh hung in the air. Across the field a man could be seen falling, on his shoulder was a distinct crest. The battle was coming to an end. Bodies lie everywhere, but she couldn't take her eyes off that one…that one man. An arrow whistled by, but she paid no heed to it. She slowly crossed the field and when she went to kneel beside him she could no longer move. Something was preventing her from getting any closer to him. The crest was so familiar. She wished she could see it better. Another arrow came whistling out of the bushes. It headed right for her and just before it made contact with her chest…she woke, to something landing on her.

She sat up with a start only to see that one of her sister's cats had gotten into her room and jumped on her. "Damn cat." She said to herself. She pushed the cat off her bed and flopped back down on her feathered pillows. She lay there for a moment. Lost in thought…

_That crest…I know it…could it be him?_

She got up and walked out on her balcony. The sun was rising. It was a deep shade of scarlet. Her expression became serious.

_Blood has been spilt this night._

She quickly turned on her heel and went back in to change. Something urged her to leave. Something urged her to find out if she was right. Once she was dressed she ran down the stairs and out the palace doors. She ran out to the stables where her horse ShadowStar waited. His coat was dark and his eyes bright. She jumped on his back and rode off into the morning light.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

By midday she could smell the burnt flesh. She followed her nose only to come to an open field within a couple of hours. She stopped ShadowStar at the edge of the field. It was silent as a grave, bodies everywhere. A wind picked up, it blew the scent right towards her, her black hair whipping back behind her.

She scanned the field, the scene was the same as the one that had appeared in her dream. Her blue eyes flashed back to one side of the field. There he lay. She dismounted and ran over to him. As she began to kneel next to him an arrow came whistling out of the bushes. She ducked then with the flick of her wrist a tiny knife was sent off to hit its target. She turned her attention back to the man in front of her. She crouched down to look at the crest on his arm. It was a black stallion rearing; a sword was shown behind it, and a ribbon underneath it. Something was written in elvish, something that she couldn't quite make out through the mud and blood that was caked in his flesh.

She reached up to pull off his helmet.

_Could it be…_

She pulled off the helmet and her blue eyes grew wide. Black hair had fallen out of the helmet like strands of silk. She brushed some hair out of his face and sure enough it was him…

"Zieg." She whispered.

His face was twisted into an expression of sheer pain. He was still alive, but he was fading. She gathered him in her arms and quickly made her way to ShadowStar. She mounted and quickly headed back to the castle for he needed the aid of the Healers.

She rode as fast as she possibly could. A dust trail left in their wake. To her the ride seemed to take an eternity. When she was finally able to see the castle on the horizon she tried to reach it quicker.

When she reached the palace she rode right in. The hooves clattered against the marble floor.

"Feu?!" Came her mother's voice.

She paid no attention to her and took off towards the Healers, leaving her mother in a state of bewilderment.

"What is going on?" Melina asked quietly.

"I'm not sure mother, but she had someone with her." Blitz said looking at his mother. The four year old happily hugged his mother's leg as she turned to attend to other matters.

Feu ducked as ShadowStar entered the Healer's wing. They all stopped to look at Feu in bewilderment for it was usually someone admitting her. She dismounted taking Zieg in her arms and laid him upon the nearest bed. She stripped him of his armor. The Healers pushed her aside and hastily began work. She watched and as much as she tried to hide it worry was etched in her eyes.

Hours passed before the left. There were a couple left and they were whispering to one another. They did one last thing before departing. They removed the amulet he wore. When they were gone she walked over to his bedside. Quite a bit of him was bandaged up. She pulled up a chair and sat beside him.

It was several days before he came too. Feu had fallen asleep in her chair. A book lay on the floor. His eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the light. He looked around taking in his surroundings. He noticed the chair next to his bed and someone was in it.

He turned his head slightly to see that it was a beautiful young female elf. She had long black hair, fine features, thin yet strong, a good figure from what he could see, and wore elven traveling clothes. She let out a soft moan as she slowly woke. Her eyes opened to reveal what seemed to like oceans of midnight blue.

"Zieg, you're finally awake?" her voice seemed to ring like soft bells or as if excellent music was being played.

The confusion of where he was and how she knew him finally set in. in one quick motion he threw the blankets at her and took off running. When she got the blankets off her he was gone.

"Shit!" was the only word she uttered as she darted after him. She tried to think of a way to corner him so that she could talk to him. Maybe she could make him see that she was his friend.

_Why don't you remember?_ She thought.

He passed through many corridors before he finally cornered himself. She kept a good distance so as not to startle him more. He turned to face her.

"Zieg it's alright. You're safe here." She said as soothing as she possibly could.

"I'm not going to hurt you. We're friends Zieg. Don't you remember?"

As she spoke she tried to show him through her eyes that she was no threat to him.

"Zieg it's me. It's Feu." She took a small step towards him.

"Do you remember?"

He only stared at her, ready to blot at any given moment.

"We used to play in the forest together. Do you remember?"

He said nothing.

"You came to live with us after you lost your family. Do you remember that?" there was a slight hint of hope in her voice.

There was something in his eyes. Something was there as if he remembered. She took another step closer. At that moment he pushed her out of the way and blotted yet again. He turned a corner and there was a load crashing sound. Feu got up and ran to see what had happened. There on the floor was Zieg and her mother.

"How many times do I have to tell you kids not to run in the palace?" Melina asked, a hint of irritation in her voice. She looked over to see who had run into her.

"Zieg?" happiness filled in her voice. In one fleeting moment she jumped on him and hugged him.

"You're back!"

She embraced him tightly. As the scent of her perfume played across his nose he realized what was going on. His memories came flooding back and the faint sound of his back popping could be heard.


End file.
